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10 Apr 2013

'Commando' showcases its composer's musical genius (Music Review)

By Bhaskar Pant
Film: "Commando"; Music Director: Mannan Shah; Lyricist: Mayur Puri; Singers: Daler Mehendi, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Sunidhi Chauhan and Dhruv Sangari; Rating: ***1/2
Action films in Bollywood are riding high on the success of their music. By that fundamental, expectations were high from the music of "Commando - The One Man Army".
The film, starring Vidyut Jamwal and former Miss India Pooja Chopra, does not fall short and impresses with its melodies. The album has only four songs, but they leave a good impression. Debutant composer Mannan Shah has created the four tracks, penned by Mayur Puri.
The album kickstarts with "Lutt jawaan", sung by newbie Dhruv Sangari. It opens with slight Sufi notes, but slowly turns progressive within one minute. With the touch of folk, the singer's voice adds a perfect blend of modern yet traditional tones, making it a decent fusion track. The track seems a little monotonous, but it has the potential to work for Bollywood lovers.
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan rules the melody of romance and passion and creates vocals that make you fall in love the second you hear "Saawan bairi". This track is the epitome of that! A beautifully nuanced composition, this number is a perfect concoction of passion, romance and soul-rendering poetry. The song belongs to Rahat, and exposes the finesse of his voice once again. Mannan Shah takes the album a notch higher with this exceptional composition. The video too is larger-than-life and gorgeously theatrical. Win win!
"Mungda" is predictably an item number with Sunidhi Chauhan crooning a re-jigged version of the old super hit-track. What is fresh about the track is that Mayur Puri has done a clean job with the lyrics and they are a break from the raunchy ones doing the rounds. A fun song, it has the potential of climbing up the music charts.
The album ends with "Lena dena", sung by Punjabi pop king Daler Mehendi. The good thing about the track is that there is not much experimentation with the composition, and it stays true to the Punjabi spirit. The low-down, however, is that it may also remind some of some of Daler's past Punjabi numbers. It's a slight disappointment in the album.
All in all, "Commando" is an album with much scope. Mannan Shah takes you by surprise, especially with a stellar track like "Saawan bairi". He is definitely someone to look out for. Go hear the album out!
--Indo-Asian News Service